HIT THE BOOKS
What single habit does Warren Buffett attribute his success to? Reading. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO estimates that he spends 80% of his day reading—eighty percent!
Alright, alright, we know telling your boss that spending 6½ hours of your 8-hour workday reading isn’t going to fly. Fortunately, research indicates that as little as 30-minutes of dedicated reading daily is enough to see benefits.
BENEFITS OF DAILY READING
• It makes (and keeps) you sharp. In addition to the expanded vocabulary and world-knowledge, daily reading has been shown to decrease the speed of memory decline. It makes you wittier and helps keep you alert.
• It boosts your emotional intelligence. Reading novels has been linked to increased empathy and higher emotional intelligence. That’s a boost for your relationships, and healthy relationships are instrumental to a fulfilling and happy life.
• It might just make you live longer. A 24-year study found that people who read books, as opposed to only newspapers and magazines, were more likely to live longer. More research is needed but there really isn’t any risk to reading—aside from paper cuts—and we would gladly suffer a few of those for a few more years of living.
In need of some reading recommendations? Check out our Beardbrand list of 25 awesome books to read.